Junior prospect Marcus Trice has seen his stock rise over the past few weeks after turning in a strong performance at a recent Nike Combine held in Fort Worth.

Monday night, BadgerBlitz.com caught up with the Mesquite (TX) prospect to discuss his most recent offer from the University of Wisconsin.

"Yes, I have an offer from Wisconsin," said the 5-foot-8, 170-pound defensive back. "My coach has been in contact with Wisconsin. They have actually been to my school a couple of times to see me practice. Coach (Kerry) Cooks gave me his card and I called him, he said he was very impressed with what he had seen.

"He said I was the kind of guy they want at the University of Wisconsin. He really likes my swagger. They overlooked my height and said that doesn't matter."

After landing three prospects from the Lone Star State in 2008, a list which includes Marcus Cromartie (Mansfield), Shelton Johnson (Carrollton) and Devin Smith (Coppell), Crooks is back in Texas searching for 2009 athletes.

"I would say Coach Cooks and I are definitely starting to get to know each other," Trice said. "I make sure that I call him about once or twice a week. I'm really gracious about the offer. We are just starting to build our relationship through honesty. We even talk about my family and stuff like that."

As for what Trice is looking for in a school, it all revolves around his education.

"First, my education is the most important thing," he said. "I want to go to a university where I can get a prestigious degree. I want to be able to apply for a job and have someone look at the university and be really impressed. I want them to know that I have a great education.

"Secondly, I really want to feel at home, I want to be comfortable. I'm going to be spending four to five years of my life with these guys. Football is a sport that takes preparation 365 days a year, so I don't want to go somewhere where I feel awkward, I want to feel at home."

With offers currently on the table from UTEP, Tulsa, Baylor and Wisconsin, Trice feels three of the four schools really stick out.

"I don't have a top list of schools as of now, but of my four current offers, Tulsa, Wisconsin and Baylor stick out the most," Trice explained. "I've been in contact with those three schools the most.

"Tulsa probably has a slight advantage over the others right now because they were my first offer. I've been in contact with them for quite some time. But I'm pretty wide open right now. Wisconsin would be right at the top of my list right now as well."

Trice learned earlier this week that fellow teammate and close friend Darnell Taylor also received an offer from the Badgers. Sharing a very close bond, look for those two, along with Darnell's twin brother Darius, to potentially be part of a package deal.

"We would all love to go to the same school. Actually, we live together. Darnell Taylor, Darius Taylor and I all live together," Trice said. "Darius and Darnell are twin brothers. My parents live in St. Louis and I'm staying with them at the moment. All three of us want to go to school together.

'If that were to happen, that school would be getting three guys who would make an impact through our football IQ's and our hard work ethic."